“At the end of the day, what cures it is just loading,” Embiid said. “You gotta load in the right way. Can’t do too much and then can’t also sit out and do nothing. It’s hard to manage, but gotta do it. Gotta push through the pain and see where it goes.”

He might not be pushing through the pain quite yet in Game 4, especially with the Sixers regaining home court advantage after a surprising Game 1 home loss.

In his absence, the Sixers turned to Greg Monroe and Boban Marjanovic. Monroe had 9 points and 13 rebounds in Game 3.

Do Sixers need Embiid against the Nets?

Embiid averaged 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in 22.5 minutes in the series’ first two games. Though the Sixers are still stacked with talent without him, the center presents a dynamic skillset that puts the team on a whole other level.

But according to Brown, the plan is to be conservative, to “buy time” for his main piece. And in a first round series for a team expected to make a deep playoff run, it might not be worth the risk.

"That is just the path that we're on with Joel,” Brown said. “There is zero doubt he is our crown jewel and just with the phase and stage and how it's played out, to my best ability, this is how I see the world nowadays. And that is Joel's path in my opinion."